Clifford the Big Red Dog Movie Finds a Forever Home at Paramount

Clifford the Big Red Dog has found a new forever home. Paramount is moving forward with a movie adaptation of the popular kids’ book series, setting Justin Malen (Baywatch) to write the script. The studio adopted the project after Universal decided to give it up. If you’ve not heard of Clifford the Big Red Dog, well, he’s exactly what he sounds like. More details on the Clifford the Big Red Dog movie below.

Deadline reports the Clifford the Big Red Dog movie will be a live-action / CG hybrid. Malen recently worked on the Baywatch movie. His other credits include Bastards, which just finished shooting with Owen Wilson and Ed Helms; and Office Christmas Party, which just wrapped up with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. It’s not exactly a resume that screams “family-friendly comedy,” but that might not be a bad thing if it means the humor will be a little more sophisticated and adult-friendly than in your typical kiddie fare.

Clifford the Big Red Dog first appeared in a 1963 book by Norman Bridwell. As the story goes, Clifford was the runt of the litter until a little girl named Emily Elizabeth chose him to be her pet. She loved him so much that he kept getting bigger and bigger and eventually grew to be about 25 feet tall. (By this reasoning, chihuahuas and Pomeranians must be despised by their owners.) He got so big, in fact, that Emily and her family had to move out of the city and into the small town of Birdwell Island.

The unusually colored pup has appeared in dozens of books over the years, as well as video games and an animated PBS series which aired from 2000-2003 and featured John Ritter as the voice of Clifford. In 2012, Universal Pictures began developing a Clifford the Big Red Dog movie with Matt Lopez (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) writing, with plans to release the film around 2016. But their option eventually lapsed, which is how Paramount was able to come in and scoop it up.